Variable-speed-aovernos conteol



J. c. L. KREBSAND W. w. WELLS.

VARIABLE SPEED GOVERNOR CONTROL.

APPLiCATlON FILED NOV. I8. I918.

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

INVENTOR 0%44, (if/WA 7 resales,

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JOHN c. 1.. KREBS AND wALrEa w. WELLS, or CLYDE, onto.

VARIABLE-SPEED-GOVERNOR CONTROL.

Specification of letters Yatent.

' Patented Dec. 9, 11319).

Application filed November 18, 1918. Serial No. 263,060.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that we, J OHN v and WALTER W. WELLS, citizens of the United States, and residents of Clyde, in 5 the county of' Sandusky and State of Ohio, I have invented a certain new and useful Variable-Speed-Governor Control; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and "exact description of the inven 10 tion, such as will enable others skilled 'in the art to which it appertains to make and 'use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters'of reference marked thereon, whlch form a part ofthis specification.

This invention relates to variable speed. governors of thecentrifugal type, and particularly to control means therefor operable to control the speed of running of the associated engine.

The objectof this invention is the provision of asimple and eflicient control means for the throttle governors of steam, gas, gasolerie, oil, 'or other engines, which means is capable of'easy and quick ad ustment to render "the governor active to close the throttle at the speed desired, and which is also capable of accurately controlling the engine at low speeds as well asat high speeds.

In the use of governors of this class, 1t must be borne in mind that since centrifugal force varies with the'square'of the R. P. M:, the forces exerted by the governor weights are very much greater at high speed than at low speed, and consequently the mcrease in these forces, as the weights move from inner to. outer position, is correspondingl greater. Accordingly, the spring wh ch is employed to resist the outward movements -'of the governor weights must be so designed as to balance the centrifugal forces under all conditions. This was accomplished in-an earlier invention described and claimed in Patent No. 1,117,759, dated November 17,

1914, by so changing the position or relation of the spring with respect to the weights that the leverage with which it acted on the weights was greater at high speeds. In the present instance, the relation ofthe spring to the governor weights remains the same, but the spring is designed so that its st1ffness may be adjusted by changing the ef-.

fective length thereof.

The invention is fully described 1n the followi g specificat on, and h 111 t o. LQKREBS bustion type equipped with the invention,

and Fig. 3 is a section of an automobile steering wheel with the governor control parts associated therewith.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the governor shaft, which, in the present lnstance, is'shown as being geared, or otherwise suitably connected, to the crank shaft of an associated engine 2. 3.designates the governor weights which are pivotally carried by arms 4, fixedly projecting from opposlte sldes of the shaft l, whereby -the weights are permitted to have swinging movements in planes which are longitudinal to the shaft, as is well understood in the art. The weights 3 have arms 1 projecting inwardly from their inner ends toward the shaft 1 for contact with an end of a sleeve 6 that is mounted for free sliding movements on-the shaft 1. The contact of the sleeve 6 with the weight arms 5 is such, in the present instance, that an outward movement of the weights will cause the sleeve to have movement to the right on'the shaft 1.

The governor houslng is designated 7, and

mounted in suitable bearings in this housing transverse to the shaft 1 adjacent to the' outer end of the sleeve 6, is a rocker-shaft -8 having an arm 9 projecting upward therefrom in contact with the outer end of said sleeve. The arm 9 is preferably forked to adapt it to straddle the shaft 1. The rock shaft 8 has another arm 10 projecting therefrom at an angle to the arm 9 and cooperating with said first arm to form a bell crank lever, and the outer end of the arm 14: is connected by a link 11 to the free end of a spring 12.

The spring 12-is of multiple leaf bar form and has the endthereof opposed to the one to which the link is attached fixed to a reentrant portion 7= of the housing 7, in the present instance, by a screw 13, the spring being substantially parallel to the shaft 1 and its mounting being such as to permit its fiexing'movements to be toward and away from said shaft. It is evident that an outward movementof the sleeve 6 occasioned by stance, rock the shaft 8 in clockwise direcan outward or centrifugal movement of the governor weights 3 W111, 1n the present intion' and communicate a flexing movement to the attached end of the shaft 12 in an out ward direction with respect to the governor shaft.

The shaft 8 is connected in a suitable manner to a throttle valve 14, which valve, in the present instance, if the engine is of the internal combustion type, comprises a part of an associated carbureter 15, as shown 1n Fig. 2. A rotation of the shaft 8,, occasioned by an outward movement of the. sleeve 6, is. intended to impart a closing movement to the throttle valve, thereby limiting the flow of operating fluid to the engine cylinders. In orderto change the effective length of the spring 12, whereby to change its fiexlbility or stiffness, it is necessary to shorten or lengthen the effective portion of the spring. This is accomplished by provid ng a shiftable spring supporting or bearing part 16 at the outer side of the spring, which may be termed a carriage, being mounted for shifting movements lengthwise of the spring within the base portion of the housing 7. The carriage 16 is provided with o posing rollers or anti-friction members 1 one of which has rolling contact with the outer side of the spring 12, while the other has rolling contact with the part of the housing 7 against which it is intended to bear.

It is evident that an outward movement ofthe carriage 16 from the dotted line position shown inFig. 1 will shorten the effective length of the spring 12, proportionally increasing the stiffness thereof, thereby causing the spring to offer a greater resist ance to an outward movement of the sleeve 6 of the governor. In other words, it Wlll be understood that with the other dimensions of the. spring remaining constant, the

' flexibility thereof increases with its length,

so that if the carriage 16 is in the full line position shown in Fig. 1, the sprlng 1s of greater stiffness, and a much greater speed of rotation of the shaft 1 will be requlred to close the throttle valve 14 against the tension of the spring than would be required if the carriage were in the dotted line position shown in said figure.

The carriage 16 has a rod 18 projecting therefrom lengthwise of its intended plane of movement through a bearing provided therefor in the housing 7, and has connection at its outer end with an suitable control mechanism. In order t at the movement of the carriage 16 may be controlled by the driver of an automobile without leaving his seat in the automobile, a simple mechanism is illustrated for such purpose. 1

This mechanism comprises a set of bevel gears 19, which are disposed at the lower end of the steering wheel column, one bevel gear the steering shaft 23 and is provided at such end with a control arm 25. A lever member 26 is fulcrumed to the arm 25. and has its inner end attached tothe upper end-of a rod 27, which extends down through the shaft 22 and-attaches at its lower end to a latchlever 28 which is fulcrumed to the outer end portion'of the bevel gear 19 attached to the shaft 22. The free end of the latch lever 28 is adapted to engage within any one of a series of notches on a segmental rack 29, which is fixed to a stationary part of the steering column.

It will be understood in the operation of our invention that by moving the carriage or spring support 16' to the right from the dotted line position shown, the efi'ective length of the spring 12 is shortened and it becomes stiff enough to balance the large increase of centrifugal force of the governer weights as they move out when revolving at high speed. Moving the carriage to the left from the full line position, lengthens the effective portion of the spring and makes it so flexible that the small increase of centrifugal force, due to the governor weights moving out when running at low speed, is able to move the rock shaft 8 through its entire range of movement.

We wish it understood that our invention is not limited to any specific construction, arrangement or form of the parts, as it is capable of numerous modifications and changes without departing from the spirit of the claim.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

Tn a governor, a housing, a bar-like spring fixed at one end to the housing and spaced from the adjacent wall thereof for flexing toward and away therefrom, a governor shaft ournaled in the housing, a centrifugal governor carried by the shaft, means connected to the free end -of the spring and operable by the centrifugal governor for flexing the spring, and an adjustable spring bearing member having a part slidable on said housing wall between the latter and the spring and having a second part slidably engaging the spring at varying points alon the latter for varying the length of the e fective portion of said spring.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names to this specification.

JOHN C. L KREBS. WALTER WELLS. 

